Advice for specific erratic behavior?

[ghostpress]

My female green cheek conure is generally very well-behaved, except in some very few situations.

I'm a student, so I spend a lot of time writing either by hand or with a keyboard, and I have her out with me every second possible. The problem is that she gets very aggressive around pencils, pens, and my typing, but not 100% of the time. She'll be doing her own thing on the desk while I write or type, and then suddenly comes shooting over to attack my fingers, standing on my paper or keys with her tail fanned out, her head high, and ready to bite should I approach, even slowly. I have to wait for her to get bored and start something else again, but sometimes she comes right back. I've tried switching pencils, going from mechanical to wooden, and typing more softly, but something still bothers her. I have no idea what it is, since it doesn't seem consistent (she's sitting perfectly calmly on my shoulder right now as I type this), and all I can do is get out of the way of her beak and wait.

I recently upgraded the desk to a tabletop playground with foot and foraging toys and a miniature tree for her to hang out on while I work, and while this does mean we each have our own space and she doesn't have to climb all over me to avoid getting bored, the behavior still persists.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas?

 

[Donna turner]

If I pick up my red pen and start writing and my gcc is on me she will run down my arm and attack pen and hand. I used to let her play with it. I guess she thinks I'm stealing her toy. She only does this if I'm writing with it.

 

[CrazyBirdChick]

Hmmm, I wonder if giving her her own pen ( with the ink park taken out) would be ok/work?

Or...maybe some sort of scary pencil topper? Like one of those huge gaudy ones? Might make her reluctant to charge it?

I'm not sure if those are good ideas but that's what came to me.

 

[aooratrix]

I would not allow her to have direct access while you're doing your work. Put her stand on a chair near you but so she can't reach you. I wouldn't give her a dummy pen because she could get in trouble with a real one in the future.

 

[ghostpress]

Hmmm, I wonder if giving her her own pen ( with the ink park taken out) would be ok/work?

Or...maybe some sort of scary pencil topper? Like one of those huge gaudy ones? Might make her reluctant to charge it?

I'm not sure if those are good ideas but that's what came to me.

I tried doing this with an empty mechanical pencil, and she went for it at first and then attacked mine again. I hadn't actually thought of using a topper, but I'm concerned she might chew it, or ignore it completely. She's a very gutsy bird, so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't faze her at all.

She also needs to be involved in whatever I'm doing or holding...I was making a climbing net earlier today and even though I gave her her own strands to play with, she just had to get in the middle of mine. So even if I gave her something else for her to do, she'd be more interested in what I'm doing. Dunno if that happens with other parrots.

 

[ghostpress]

I would not allow her to have direct access while you're doing your work. Put her stand on a chair near you but so she can't reach you. I wouldn't give her a dummy pen because she could get in trouble with a real one in the future.

She has her own stand away from me, but as I've chosen not to clip her wings she flies over whenever she likes, and if I put her down again she comes back. Do you suggest that I keep trying to keep our spaces separate?

 

[CrazyBirdChick]

That sounds kind of like my quaker, actually. He's very gutsy and determined...and sometimes annoying, lol. Sorry I don't have any better advice for you. Hopefullsomeone else will!

 

[ghostpress]

If I pick up my red pen and start writing and my gcc is on me she will run down my arm and attack pen and hand. I used to let her play with it. I guess she thinks I'm stealing her toy. She only does this if I'm writing with it.

Come to think of it I kind of remember letting her play with a pencil once or twice too, and didn't go back to my study for a while, so she forgot about it. Actually, she was a lot more aggressive about both the pencils and the keyboard then. Maybe she does think I'm taking her toy away?

 

[ghostpress]

That sounds kind of like my quaker, actually. He's very gutsy and determined...and sometimes annoying, lol. Sorry I don't have any better advice for you. Hopefullsomeone else will!

That's alright, thanks anyway.